– 61 –

Resting

All whiskers and scurf,
he brings King Lear to Newtown.
His voice has been ruined
by too much cigarette smoke,
too much smoke and grief.

In London long ago
he worked with the best.
Guinness himself was priestly, suave, exact.

The iron streets are puddled
with scraps of turquoise silk.
His beat takes in The Ballroom—
is he even aware that all these bright young things
are students of the drama?